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A Dell Deployment and Configuration Guide

EqualLogic Integration: Installation andConfiguration of Host Integration Tools forLinux HIT/LinuxDescribes how to install and configure the Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Toolsfor Linux 1.3 with Dell EqualLogic PS Series storage arrays

Dell Storage Engineering

March 2014

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2 EqualLogic Integration: Installation and Configuration of Host Integration Tools for Linux HIT/Linux | TR1082

Revisions

Version Date Description

1.0 April 2012 Initial Release: Installation and Configuration of HIT/Linux 1.1

1.1 October 2012 Added information about HIT/Linux 1.2

1.1.1 February 2013 Added support for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.9 and wording on supportfor CentOS.

1.2 April 2014 Added information about HIT/Linux 1.3 and Oracle Linux UEK

Table 1

Software and firmware used for the preparation of this Technical Report

Vendor Model Software Revision

Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux RHEL 6 Update 5

Dell EqualLogic PS Series Firmware Version 7.0.0

Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Linux Version 1.3

Table 2

Documents referred to in this Technical Report

Vendor Document Title

Dell Host Integration Tools/Linux Edition Release Notes Version 1.3

Dell Host Integration Tools/Linux Edition Installation and UsersGuide Version

1.3

Dell Technical Report (TR1070): EqualLogic PS Series Architecture: Load Balancers

Dell Technical Report (TR1083): Linux Integration: HIT/Linux Auto-Snapshot Manager
http://en.community.dell.com/dell-groups/dtcmedia/m/mediagallery/19949521/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/dell-groups/dtcmedia/m/mediagallery/19949521/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/dell-groups/dtcmedia/m/mediagallery/19949521/download.aspx

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THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND

TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF

ANY KIND.

2014 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever without the express

written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact Dell.

PRODUCT WARRANTIES APPLICABLE TO THE DELL PRODUCTS DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT MAY BE FOUND

AT: http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/19/terms-of-sale-commercial-and-public-sector Performance of network

reference architectures discussed in this document may vary with differing deployment conditions, network loads, and

the like. Third party products may be included in reference architectures for the convenience of the reader. Inclusion

of such third party products does not necessarily constitute Dells recommendation of those prod ucts. Please consult

your Dell representative for additional information.

Trademarks used in this text:

Dell, the Dell logo, Dell Boomi, Dell Precision ,OptiPlex, Latitude, PowerEdge, PowerVault,

PowerConnect, OpenManage, EqualLogic, Compellent, KACE, FlexAddress, Force10 and Vostro are

trademarks of Dell Inc. Other Dell trademarks may be used in this document. Cisco Nexus, Cisco MDS, Cisco NX-

0S, and other Cisco Catalystare registered trademarks of Cisco System Inc. EMC VNX, and EMC Unisphereare

registered trademarks of EMC Corporation. Intel, Pentium, Xeon, Coreand Celeronare registered trademarks of

Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. AMDis a registered trademark and AMD Opteron, AMD

Phenom and AMD Sempron are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Microsoft, Windows, Windows

Server, Internet Explorer, MS-DOS, Windows Vistaand Active Directoryare either trademarks or registered

trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Red Hatand Red HatEnterprise

Linuxare registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Novelland SUSEare

registered trademarks of Novell Inc. in the United States and other countries. Oracleis a registered trademark of

Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Citrix, Xen, XenServerand XenMotionare either registered trademarks or

trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. VMware, Virtual SMP, vMotion,

vCenterand vSphereare registered trademarks or trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States or other

countries. IBMis a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Broadcomand

NetXtremeare registered trademarks of Broadcom Corporation. Qlogic is a registered trademark of QLogic

Corporation. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming

the marks and/or names or their products and are the property of their respective owners. Dell disclaims proprietary

interest in the marks and names of others.
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Table of contentsRevisions ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 2

Preface ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6

Audience ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 6

Related documentation ................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Dell EqualLogic Storage Solutions ................................................................................................................................................. 6

1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................ 7

1.1 HIT/Linux: Features ......................................................................................................................................................... 7

1.2 New features in version 1.3 ........................................................................................................................................... 8

1.2.1 Changes in HIT/Linux 1.2 ............................................................................................................................................... 8

1.2.2

Changes in HIT/Linux 1.1 ............................................................................................................................................... 8

1.3

Dell Equallogic Multipath I/O Overview ...................................................................................................................... 9

1.4

Dell EqualLogic MPIO Software .................................................................................................................................. 11

2

Getting started .......................................................................................................................................................................... 12

2.1 Configuration ................................................................................................................................................................. 12

2.2 Installation steps ............................................................................................................................................................ 12

2.3 Obtaining the Installation ............................................................................................................................................ 12

2.4 Importing the public key .............................................................................................................................................. 13

2.5 Mount installation ISO image ...................................................................................................................................... 13

2.6 Installing HIT/Linux using the installscript ............................................................................................................. 13

2.6.1

Gather diagnostic data to show status ...................................................................................................................... 18

2.7

Accessing Volumes Using Multipath I/O .................................................................................................................. 19

2.7.1

Verify SAN connectivity ................................................................................................................................................ 19

2.7.2

Discovering targets ....................................................................................................................................................... 19

2.7.3 Logging into the volume ............................................................................................................................................. 20

2.7.4 Benefits of using ehcmcliversus iscsiadmto login and logout of a volume .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... 20

2.7.5 Gather diagnostic data to show status ...................................................................................................................... 20

2.7.6 Create mount points and file systems ........... .......... ........... .......... ........... .......... ........... .......... ........... .......... .......... .... 21

2.7.7

Mount volumes .............................................................................................................................................................. 22

3

Summary ................................................................................................................................................................................... 23

A

New functionality in HIT/Linux 1.2........................................................................................................................................ 24

A.1

Volume undelete ........................................................................................................................................................... 24

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A.2

Synchronous replication .............................................................................................................................................. 24

A.3

The eqlvolume utility .................................................................................................................................................... 25

A.4

Rethinning Example ...................................................................................................................................................... 27

A.4.1 Recommend mount-points for rethinning .............................................................................................................. 28

A.4.2

Rethin recommended mount-points ........................................................................................................................ 28

B Using Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM) ...................................................................................................................... 29

C HIT/Linux installation example .............................................................................................................................................. 30

D

Technical support and customer service ............................................................................................................................ 35

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Preface

PS Series arrays optimize resources by automating performance and network load balancing. Additionally,

PS Series arrays offer all-inclusive array management software, host software, and free firmware updates.

AudienceThe information in this guide is intended for administrators responsible for installing and using the Host

Integration Tools for Linux (HIT/Linux) platform. Administrators are not required to have extensive network

or storage system experience. However, it is helpful to understand:

Linux operating system administration, especially disk and network management

Basic networking concepts

Current network environment

In addition, for certain management tasks you will need administrative access to the PS Series group you

are using.

Related documentation

For detailed information about PS Series arrays, groups, volumes, array software, and host software, log in

to theDocumentation pageat the customer support site.

Dell EqualLogic Storage Solutions

To learn more about Dell EqualLogic products and new releases being planned, visit the Dell EqualLogic

TechCenter site:http://delltechcenter.com/page/EqualLogic.Here you can also find articles, demos,

online discussions, technical documentation, and more details about the benefits of our product family.
https://www.equallogic.com/support/resources.aspx?id=2495https://www.equallogic.com/support/resources.aspx?id=2495https://www.equallogic.com/support/resources.aspx?id=2495http://delltechcenter.com/page/EqualLogichttp://delltechcenter.com/page/EqualLogichttp://delltechcenter.com/page/EqualLogichttp://delltechcenter.com/page/EqualLogichttps://www.equallogic.com/support/resources.aspx?id=2495

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1 IntroductionThe Host Integration Tools for Linux (HIT/Linux) provides a collection of applications and utilities to

simplify the configuration and administration of Dell EqualLogic PS Series storage arrays. This section

provides an overview of HIT/Linux features and information about what you can expect when installing,

configuring, and using this product.

1.1 HIT/Linux: FeaturesHIT/Linux provides the following features:

EqualLogic iSCSI Multipathing: A combination of user and kernel mode binaries that:

- Automates iSCSI session management to create and maintain the optimal iSCSI session

configuration for high availability and increased performance.

- Improves I/O performance by intelligently routing I/O directly to the correct PS Series array

member, thereby reducing intra-group I/O forwarding.

EqualLogic Configuration Utility (eqlconfig): A utility that lets you interactively configure the

components in HIT/Linux, including ASMCLI and Multipath I/O (MPIO). It is automatically invoked as

part of the installation process.

EqualLogic Host Performance and Configuration Tuning Suite (eqltune): Verifies that an optimal

set of tuning parameters are set for the Linux system to enhance performance and usability.

Auto-Snapshot Manager/Linux Edition (ASM/LE): Creates point-in-time copies of EqualLogic

volumes as part of a backup and recovery strategy for your data. From the ASM command-line

interface, you can:

- Create, list, and manage Smart Copies, collections, and schedules.

- Mount and unmount Smart Copies.

- Create and manage group access files to store group names, group IP addresses, optional

management IP addresses, user names, and passwords.

Note: This Technical Report does NOT cover ASM/LE. For more information about ASM/LE, please read

chapter 5 and 6 of the Host Integration Tools/Linux Edition Installation and Users Guide

Version 1.3 andTechnical Report (TR1083) HIT/Linux Auto-Snapshot Manager.

Remote Setup Wizard Command Line Interface (rswcli): The rswcli setup utility is used to:

- Discover and initialize PS Series arrays.

- Configure and manage access to a PS Series group.

- Set configuration parameters for MPIO.

- Manage which subnets are used for MPIO.

EqualLogic Log Gathering Facility (eqllog):Collects system logs and information about the current

running state of your configuration. EqualLogic Volume Rethinning Facility (eqlvolume):Manages the available storage on thin-

provisioned volumes. Must be running firmware version 6.0 and above.
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1.2 New features in version 1.3The following features are new in version 1.3:

Support for these 32- and 64-bit Linux distributions:

-

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL): 5.9, 5.10, 6.4, and 6.5

-

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES): 11 SP2 and SP3-

Oracle Linux with Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel release 5.10 (UEK2) and 6.5 (UEK2 and UEK3

x86_64 only)

Support for PS Series version 7.0 firmware

Support for EqualLogic PS610 Series arrays

1.2.1 Changes in HIT/Linux 1.2 New utility added

- The Dell EqualLogic Volume-Rethinning Facility, eqlvolume, manages the available storage on

thin-provisioned volumes. This function requires version 6.0 or later of the PS Series firmware

and includes the following commands:

>

eqlvolume show: Displays information on mount points using Dell EqualLogic volumes.

> eqlvolume rethin: Performs on-demand rethinning or recommends volumes for rethinning.

Soft deletions for Smart Copies

- When Smart Copy clones stored on PS Series arrays running version 6.0 or later of the PS

Series firmware are deleted, they are "soft deleted" and held in a volume recovery bin for up to

seven days. During this time, those Smart Copies can be restored.

Support for the following 32- and 64-bit Linux distributions

- Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL): 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.2, 6.3

- SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11 SP1, SP2

- The following CentOS versions were tested and qualified: 5.7, 5.8, 6.2, and 6.3. Please contact

the Technical Support team for Dell support policies for the CentOS operating platform.

Support for Dell EqualLogic PS Series Group Version 6.0.x firmware features

- Synchronous Replication

- Snapshot borrowing

- Volume undelete

- Volume re-thinning (unmap)

Note: Find a more detailed look at the new features of HIT/Linux version 1.2 in AppendixA.

1.2.2 Changes in HIT/Linux 1.1 Broader customer choice of Linux distributions; supports the following 32- and 64- bit Linux

distributions:- RHEL: 5.7, 5.8, 6.1, 6.2

- SLES 11 SP1, SP2

- The following CentOS versions were tested and qualified: 5.7, 5.8, 6.1, and 6.2. Please contact

the Technical Support team for Dell support policies for CentOS operating platform.

Auto-Snapshot Manager/Linux Edition (ASM/LE)

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-

Create, list, and manage Smart Copies of snapshots, replicas, clones, and thin clones

- Create, list, and manage Smart Copy collections

- Create, list, and manage Smart Copy schedules

- Mount and unmount Smart Copies

- Log in and out of Smart Copies

- Restore data from Smart Copies

- Create and manage password files for automatic authentication

Enhanced Installer

- A new installation script run from the Linux command prompt invokes the EqualLogic

Configuration Utility (eqlconfig) for automatic installation and configuration tuning

Usability Enhancements

- eqltune can automatically fix critical errors

- Prebuilt binary kernel modules distributed for newer kernels to remove dependence on DKMS

- New ehcmcli commands to simplify login and logout from iSCSI targets

- Improved installation support for migrating from native multipathd usage to EqualLogic

multipathing

- Syntactical changes to the EqualLogic Host Connection Manager CLI (ehcmcli) and EqualLogic

Host Performance and Configuration Tuning Suite (eqltune) now match the Auto-Snapshot

Manager CLI and make use of Bash command completion

- Use Bash command completion to efficiently construct a command line for all command line

utilities

Note: In the previous release, the EqualLogic Host Connection Manager daemon (ehcmd) was only

configured to run if MPIO was in use. In this release, the role of ehcmd has expanded. It is configured to

run at all times, even if you disable MPIO.

1.3 Dell Equallogic Multipath I/O OverviewThe MPIO framework uses redundant physical connections to shared storage. Having multiple host

connections, switches and SAN interfaces all help to eliminate single points of failure. Using MPIO, servers

can send multiple I/O streams to SAN volumes concurrently. MPIO also provides increased redundancy

and can improve performance of application data hosted on the SAN. SeeFigure 1andTable 3.

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Figure 1

MPIO Configuration and Components

Table 3 EqualLogic MPIO Component Description

1 The dm-switch kernel module performs I/O path selection and error handling

2 The EqualLogic host connection manager daemon (ehcmd) manages iSCSI sessions

3 Two or more 1 Gb or 10 Gb Ethernet NICs

4 Two or more redundant physical paths to redundant network switches

5 Two or more redundant physical paths provide a network switch interlink

6 Two or more redundant physical paths from the network switches are connected to theseparate redundant controllers in each Member in a PS Series Group.

7 Each Member in the Group has at least two physical paths to the network switches that areconnected to separate redundant controllers.

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1.4 Dell EqualLogic MPIO SoftwareThe Dell EqualLogic MPIO software is designed to deliver:

Automatic connection management

Automatic path failure detection and path failover

Automatic load balancing across paths Support for multiple connections to a single iSCSI target (volume)

Increased bandwidth

Reduced network latency

Easy installation and management

The Dell EqualLogic HIT/Linux MPIO software consists of two components:

The EqualLogic Host Connection Manager daemon, ehcmd, which monitors the iSCSI session state

and the configuration of the Linux server and PS Series group. Running in the background, the

ehcmddaemon uses the Open-iSCSI management tool (iscsiadm) to add, remove, or modify iSCSI

sessions to maintain an optimal number of iSCSI sessions. It also gathers information on the volumelayout from the PS Series group.

A loadable kernel module, dm-switch, which implements a new Device Mapper target to the

multipath devices. Based on the volume layout on the array members, the dm-switch module

routes each I/O to the optimal path within the PS Series group.

Dell EqualLogic MPIO is easy to install as part of the HIT/Linux. The Host Integration Tools kit is included

with the purchase of a PS Series array or is downloadable fromhttp://support.dell.com/equallogicat

no extra cost.

Figure 2 illustrates how multiple I/O streams are concurrently routed through the hosts iSCSI sessions

directly to the member (array) within the PS Series Group which will be servicing them. Using the DellEqualLogic MPIO software, the best path for each I/O is selected based on knowledge about the volume

layout on the PS Series Group. The Dell EqualLogic MPIO software uses iscsiadmto automatically manage

these iSCSI sessions and then routes I/O directly to the member (array) on which it will be serviced.

Figure 2 Dell EqualLogic MPIO managing iSCSI sessions and I/O routing
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2 Getting startedBefore you get started with installing HIT/Linux, you should plan your networking configuration

and review some aspects of your Linux server environment. For optimal SAN performance and

redundancy, Dell recommends that you dedicate at least two network interfaces on your Linux

servers to iSCSI SAN traffic. Additionally, SAN traffic should be on a dedicated network, separatefrom your LAN network.

2.1 Configuration 1 Dell EqualLogic PS Series Storage Array connected to the network

- Groupname = tekmktlab-10Gb; GroupIP = 10.10.6.50

- Two 10GB volumes: hit1 and hit2

1 RHEL 6.5 Server with 3 Ethernet interfaces

- LAN: eth0 = 10.124.4.190

- SAN: eth1 = 10.10.13.13 and eth2 = 10.10.13.14

2.2 Installation stepsThis section shows where to obtain the installation kit and public key, how to import the public key, mount

the installation ISO, and install the kit.

Note:When you perform a fresh installation or an upgrade, you must accept the Dell End User License

Agreement (Dell EULA) for the installation script to continue. The EULA contents differ slightly between

interactive and noninteractive installations.

1. To quit reading the EULA and accept the terms and conditions, press q. The following message

displays:Please indicate your response to EULA terms and conditions by typing (Accept/Reject):

2.

Type Acceptat the prompt.

2.3 Obtaining the InstallationIn order to download the latest HIT/Linux kit, you must have a Dell EqualLogic Customer user account. A

user account can be setup at the following URL:https://support.dell.com/equallogic

There are two downloads, one for the ISO image and the other for the public key, RPM-GPG-KEY-

DELLEQL. Create a directory where the installation ISO and public key can be downloaded to.

For example:

# mkdir /HITkit
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2.4 Importing the public keyThe public key is used for checking the integrity and authenticity of the ISO image and its

contents.

# rpm --import RPM-GPG-KEY-DELLEQL

2.5 Mount installation ISO image1. Create a mount point for ISO image.

# mkdir -p /media/iso

2. Mount the ISO image.

# cd /HITkit

# mount o loop equallogic-host-tools-1.3.0-1.epa.iso /media/iso

2.6 Installing HIT/Linux using the installscript

# /media/iso/install

Note: The install script can also be used to upgrade from HIT/Linux 1.2 to HIT/Linux 1.3.

When you perform a fresh installation or an upgrade, you must accept the Dell End User License

Agreement (Dell EULA) for the installation script to continue. The EULA contents differ slightly between

interactive and noninteractive installations.

1.

To quit reading the EULA and accept the terms and conditions, press q. The following message

displays:Please indicate your response to EULA terms and conditions by typing (Accept/Reject):

2. Type Acceptat the prompt.

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Figure 3 Start of installation and acceptance of the End User License Agreement.

Figure 4 Display and acknowlogement of packages that will be installed.

3. Choose the subnet being used for your SAN. In this example 10.10.0.0/16is our SAN subnet.

4. Take the default for What document directory should ASM use to store Smart Copy backup

documents.

5.

Then choose nofor Would you like to provide credentials for group 10.10.6.50.

For more information about ASM/LE, read chapter 5 and 6 of the Host Integration Tools/Linux Edition

Installation and Users Guide Version 1.3 andTechnical Report (TR1083) HIT/Linux Auto-

Snapshot Manager.
http://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspxhttp://en.community.dell.com/techcenter/extras/m/white_papers/20439012/download.aspx

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Figure 5

Configuration of MPIO

Figure 6

Directory of where to store Smart Copy backup documents.

The installscript runs eqltune in summary mode. If there are any Critical errors eqltunewill offer to fix

them automatically. Then the installation displays which system settings were changed. Finally, the install

script starts the ehcmddaemon.

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Figure 7 Summary output from eqltune

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Figure 8 Output from selecting Fix inFigure 7

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Figure 9

Installation has successfully completed

Note: Bash completion help is now available for most HIT/LINUX tools. Either close and reopen your

shell or run the following command in the current shell:

. /etc/bash_completion.d/equallogic

2.6.1

Gather diagnostic data to show statusAt this point, no volumes have been connected. The output correctly shows the two SAN Ethernet

adapters and the IP addresses.

# ehcmcli status

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Figure 10

Status before connecting to the EqualLogic volumes

2.7 Accessing Volumes Using Multipath I/OTo access volumes using Multipath I/O, discover targets (volumes), log into at least one iSCSI session to

the volume, create a file system, and mount the volume.

2.7.1 Verify SAN connectivityVerify that each Ethernet interface being used for SAN traffic can access the PS Series group IP address,

(for example: 10.10.6.50).

# ping -I eth1 10.10.6.50

# ping -I eth2 10.10.6.50

2.7.2 Discovering targets

# iscsiadm -m discoverydb p 10.10.6.50 t st o new D

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2.7.3 Logging into the volume

# ehcmcli login --target hit1 --portal 10.10.6.50

# ehcmcli login --target hit2 --portal 10.10.6.50

2.7.4

Benefits of using ehcmcliversus iscsiadmto login and logout of a volume Use the volume name instead of the target IQN string.

By the time ehcmcli loginreturns successfully, one session is established and the

/dev/eql/volumename device symlink will exist and be useable. If iscsiadm is used, there is a

wait/poll for the device to appear.

Enables leading-loginsupport, which establishes one session to start and falling back across

multiple interfaces. Other MPIO sessions will be set up at a later time by ehcmd.

The --login-at-bootcan be used to automatically log into the volumes at boot time.

Figure 11

Output from the ehcmcli login command.

Note:The device name is stored under /dev/eql and has the volume name when created on the PS

Series array. In the example above, the device names are /dev/eql/hit1 and /dev/eql/hit2. The devices

created under /dev/mapper/eql-* are still present, so if you have any existing mounts or scripts

referencing them, they will still work after upgrading to HIT/Linux 1.1.

2.7.5 Gather diagnostic data to show statusAt this point, the volumes have been configured. The output correctly shows the two SAN Ethernet

adapters, the IP addresses and the volume list. Notice under Summarythere is one volume being

managed with two iSCSI sessions from the Linux host to the volume on the PS Series group.

# ehcmcli status

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Figure 12

Status after login to the EqualLogic volume.

2.7.6 Create mount points and file systemsMake hit1 and hit2 available on the server.

# mkdir /mnt/hit1

# mkdir /mnt/hit2

# mkfs.ext3 /dev/eql/hit1

# mkfs.ext3 /dev/eql/hit2

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Note: See AppendixB for directions to configure Logical Volume Manager (LVM).

2.7.7

Mount volumes# mount /dev/eql/hit1 /mnt/hit1

# mount /dev/eql/hit2 /mnt/hit2

Note: To automatically mount the volume, add an entry into /etc/fstab. For example: /dev/eql/hit1

/mnt/hit1 ext3 _netdev,defaults 0 0

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3 SummaryDell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Linux software simplifies MPIO setup and configuration by

eliminating the multipath configuration steps and automatically managing multiple iSCSI sessions. The

software also optimizes the operation of a Dell EqualLogic PS Series array by using knowledge about

volume layouts on a PS Series group and routing I/O directly to the Dell EqualLogic PS Series arrays that

will be servicing requests. The EqualLogic Host Performance and Configuration Tuning Suite (eqltune)

enables you to verify a Linux system for optimal iSCSI performance configuration by analyzing a large

number of system settings for compliance with Dell's recommended practices, categorizing them into

four categories: Critical, Warning, Suggestion and OK. Eqlvolume manages recovery of disk space that has

become available and makes more efficient use of disk capacity in storage volumes.

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A New functionality in HIT/Linux 1.2

The Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Linux 1.2 release includes several new features. The

features new to HIT/Linux 1.2 are described below. Several of these support functionality new to PS Series

firmware version 6.0 and are only relevant when running in an environment with PS Groups running

version 6.0 firmware. One of the new features, space recovery/unmap (seeA.3, The eqlvolume utility),requires PS Series firmware version 6 as well as specific operating system and filesystem support.

A.1

Volume undelete

The PS Series firmware version 6.0 supports volume undelete, a feature which conditionally places deleted

volumes, including clones, in a volume recovery bin. Volumes in the recovery bin will automatically get

purged, based on time or space, or they can be purged manually. When Smart Copy clones stored on PS

Series arrays running version 6.0 or later of the PS Series firmware are deleted, they are "soft deleted" and

held in the recovery bin for up to seven days. During this time those Smart Copies can be restored.

HIT/Linux 1.2 ASMCLI is aware when smart copy clones created by ASMCLI are in any of these four states:

soft deleted and in the recovery bin

hard deleted from the array

restored from the recovery bin

purged from the recovery bin

As of HIT/Linux 1.2, ASMCLI knows the state of the deleted clones in the recovery bin and hides the

(original) backup document that corresponds to that clone. The ASMCLI command option (--check-

status) reports the status of smart copies, including deleted clones within the recovery bin. An example of

the command usage is seen here:

Figure 13 Checking the status of a deleted clone

A.2

Synchronous replication

The PS Series firmware version 6.0 supports synchronous replication (SyncRep), a feature that enables a

single PS volume to be housed on two different pools - both within the same PS Group. The active volume

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and standby volume are kept consistent automatically. As of version 1.2, HIT/Linux ASMCLI is SyncRep

aware.

The following table lists the ASMCLI operations supported on active and standby volumes:

Table 4 Supported ASMCLI operations

ASMCLI operation Active Standby

create Yes No

mount Yes Yes

restore Yes No

The HIT/Linux 1.2 ASMCLI software makes a determination about a volumes state, active or standby, and

whether a switchover has occurred. The ASMCLI command option (--check-status) can be used to view

the status of smart copies, including whether a volume smart copy is active or standby. An example of the

ASMCLI command usage is shown here, first listing the available smart copies and then attempting torestore from the SyncAlternate instance:

Figure 14 Checking status of Smart Copies when using Synchronous Replication

The ASMCLI --check-status output indicates that the snapshot cannot be used for restore, since it resides

on the SyncAlternate pool. The ASMCLI restore attempt fails, notifying the user of the cause of the error

and providing a suggestion to remedy the situation. As an alternative, a side-by-side restore can be used

by executing the ASMCLI mount command.

A.3 The eqlvolume utility

New in HIT/Linux 1.2 is the Dell EqualLogic Volume Rethinning Facility, eqlvolume, which displays

additional information about mount points using PS Series volumes and assists users with managing the

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available storage on thin-provisioned volumes. This functionality requires PS Series firmware version 6.0 or

later.

The eqlvolume utility can be used in one of these two modes, which are described below:

Showing mount point information - eqlvolume show

Rethinning a volume - eqlvolume rethin

The eqlvolume showcommand displays characteristics of mount points, their corresponding file systems,

and their EqualLogic volumes. If PS group access credentials have been configured using ASMCLI, then

additional information about the volumes will be displayed. A sample usage is provided here:

Figure 15

This shows /mnt/vol1 has been thin-provisioned

On this Linux host, ASMCLI group access has been previously configured as shown in the output from the

first command (ASMCLI list group-access). The second command (eqlvolume show) reports information

for the mount points containing file systems backed by EqualLogic volumes. In this case, there is one

/mnt/vol1which is a 50GB thin-provisioned volume, mounted read-write with a file system type of ext4.

If ASMCLI group access is not configured, then the output from eqlvolume showdisplays less information,

as seen here:

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Figure 16 The same command without setting access credentials

Note that without ASMCLI group access the additional volume information, such as thin-provisioned,

cannot be retrieved from the PS Group and the resulting eqlvolume showoutput is less informative.

The second role for the eqlvolume command is volume rethinning, invoked through the syntax eqlvolume

rethin. Volume rethinning also known as volume unmapping, notifies a PS Series group that disk spacewithin a volume has been de-allocated, such as when a file is removed or truncated. This operation

reclaims space, particularly valuable with thin-provisioned volumes. Volume rethinning requires that the

PS Series group be running PS Series firmware version 6.0 or later. In addition, Linux host support

requirements must be met both in the form of Linux version number and file system type.

In Linux, volume rethinning can be initiated in one of two methods: realtime or on-demand. Specifically,

rethinning requires that either FITRIM ioctl()or mount -o discardbe supported by the file system. Linux

distributions and file systems have varying support for these two methods as listed in this table:

Linux DistributionREALTIME Support

mount -o discard

ON-DEMAND Support

FITRIM

RHEL 6 ext4 gfs2 btrfs RHEL 6.0 = (none)RHEL 6.1 = ext4RHEL 6.2 = ext4 XFSRHEL 6.3 = ext3 ext4 XFS

SLES 11 SP2 ext3 ext4 OCFS2 XFS btrfs ext3 ext4 OCFS2 XFS btrfs

Note: The eqlvolume utility automatically detects which of these methods is supported on the Linux host

and uses the most effective one available.

A.4 Rethinning Example

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A.4.1 Recommend mount-points for rethinning

# eqlvolume rethin recommend --verbose

A.4.2 Rethin recommended mount-points

# eqlvolume rethin

Figure 17

Rethin recommended mount-points

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B Using Linux Logical Volume Manager (LVM)

1. Create physical volume

# pvcreate /dev/eql/rhhit1

2.

Create Volume Group

# vgcreate -s 16 /dev/vghit1 /dev/eql/rhhit1

3.

Create Logical Volume

# lvcreate --name lvhit1 --size 19G /dev/vghit1

4. Create file system on Logical Volume

# mkfs.ext3 /dev/vghit1/lvhit1

5. Mount Logical Volume

# mkdir /mnt/rhhit1

# mount -t ext3 /dev/vghit1/lvhit1 /mnt/rhhit1

# df

Note: To automatically mount the logical volume, add an entry into /etc/fstab. For example:

/dev/vgvol1/lvvol1 /mnt/rhvol1 ext3 -netdev,defaults 0 0

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C HIT/Linux installation example

[root@rhel57tr /]# /media/iso/install

EqualLogic install script version 1.1.0 Build 230675

Copyright (c) 2010-2011 Dell, Inc.

Cd /usr/lib64/firefox-3.6

======================================================================

Beginning install of HIT/LE

======================================================================

Detected compatible pre-compiled kernel module packages:

/media/iso/packages/el5/x86_64/kmod-dm-switch-1.1.0-0.x86_64.rpm

Kernel module dependencies already present

Installing user and kernel mode packages ...

================================================================================

Package Arch Version Repository Size

================================================================================

Installing:

equallogic-host-tools

x86_64 1.1.0-0.el5

/equallogic-host-tools-1.1.0-0.el5.x86_64 x86_64 1.1.0-0 19 M

kmod-dm-switch x86_64 1.1.0-0 /kmod-dm-switch-1.1.0-0.x86_64 268 k

Transaction Summary

================================================================================

Install 2 Package(s)

Upgrade 0 Package(s)

Is this ok [y/N]: y

Installing version 1.1.0 of equallogic-host-tools

duration: 3130(ms)

Installed products updated.

Install succeeded.

======================================================================

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Running eqlconfig to perform initial configuration

======================================================================

Dell EqualLogic 'eqlconfig' version 1.1.0 Build 230675


Successfully merged saved settings from /etc/equallogic/eql.conf.rpmsave

======================================================================

Configuring MPIO Parameters

======================================================================

Would you like ehcmd to actively manage MPIO and iSCSI sessions (Yes/No) [Yes]? Yes

Choose address protocol (IPv4/IPv6) [IPv4]:

Found the following subnets for MPIO:

1.) 10.124.4.0/22

2.) 10.10.0.0/16

3.) Choose individual NICs

Enter a comma-separated list of subnets that you want to use for MPIO, e.g., 1, 2 or

select individual NICs (1, 2, 3) [1]: 2

To check the adapters used for MPIO, see 'ehcmcli status'

To change additional parameters for MPIO, use 'rswcli --mpio-parameters'

======================================================================

Configuring ASM Parameters

======================================================================

What document directory should ASM use to store Smart Copy backup documents

[/var/lib/equallogic/asm/smart-copies]:

Would you like to provide credentials for group 10.10.5.7 (Yes/No) [Yes]?No

======================================================================

Running 'eqltune' to check system settings

======================================================================

Dell EqualLogic 'eqltune' version 1.1.0 Build 230675


Checking your Linux system for optimal iSCSI performance...

Sysctl Tunables Critical Warnings Suggestions Ok

-------------------------------------------------------------------

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ARP Flux 4 0 0 0

RP Filter 0 0 0 1

Network Buffers 0 0 10 0

Ethernet Devices

-------------------------------------------------------------------

eth0 0 0 2 1

iSCSI Settings

-------------------------------------------------------------------

iscsid.conf defaults 1 4 1 2

External Utility Settings

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Blacklists 2 0 0 0

EqualLogic Host Tools

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Running system check 0 0 0 2

Run in verbose mode (eqltune -v) for more details and instructions on how

to adjust your settings.

Run in fix mode (eqltune fix) to automatically repair all Critical issues.

Critical errors detected. Eqltune can fix these automatically.

How would you like to proceed (Fix/List/Ignore) [Fix]?

Dell EqualLogic 'eqltune' version 1.1.0 Build 230675


Repairing all critical system issues...

Block Devices

-------------

No issues to fix

Sysctl Tunables

---------------

Fixing: Critical: net.ipv4.conf.eth1.arp_ignore=0, must be 1

Fixing: Critical: net.ipv4.conf.eth1.arp_announce=0, must be 2

Fixing: Critical: net.ipv4.conf.eth2.arp_ignore=0, must be 1

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Fixing: Critical: net.ipv4.conf.eth2.arp_announce=0, must be 2

Ethernet Devices

----------------

No issues to fix

iSCSI Settings

--------------

No issues to fix

External Utility Settings

-------------------------

Fixing: Critical: LVM device filter=not set, must be set

Fixing: Critical: multipathd blacklist=unset, must be set

EqualLogic Host Tools

---------------------

No issues to fix

Notice

------

eqltune previously backed up the following 4 system configuration files:

* /var/lib/equallogic/eqltune.backup/multipath.conf

* /var/lib/equallogic/eqltune.backup/sysctl.conf

* /var/lib/equallogic/eqltune.backup/iscsid.conf

* /var/lib/equallogic/eqltune.backup/lvm.conf

Completed successfully

======================================================================

Starting MPIO Services

======================================================================

Starting service: ehcmd

======================================================================

Configuration complete

======================================================================

To run the configuration utility again, use 'eqlconfig'

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======================================================================

Installation complete

======================================================================

Bash completion help is now available for most EqualLogic tools.

To take advantage of these, either close and reopen your shell or

run the following command in the current shell:

. /etc/bash_completion.d/equallogic

[root@rhel57tr /]#

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D Technical support and customer service

Dell support service is available to answer your questions about PS Series SAN arrays.

Contacting Dell

1. If you have an Express Service Code, have it ready.

The code helps the Dell automated support telephone system direct your call more efficiently.

2.

If you are a customer in the United States or Canada in need of technical support,

call 1-800-945-3355. If not, go to Step 3.

3. Visitsupport.equallogic.com.

4. Log in, or click Create Account to request a new support account.

5. At the top right, click Contact Us, and call the phone number or select the link for the type

of support you need.
http://support.equallogic.com/http://support.equallogic.com/http://support.equallogic.com/http://support.equallogic.com/

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